A 24 hour strike is currently taking place at over fifty store operatives by staff at BAE Systems on the Upper Clyde.
The action was planned amid an ongoing dispute and after talks and last-ditch discussions between GMB and subcontractor Wincanton ended without resolution.
The staff, who organise and distribute trade and safety equipment to workers at the Govan and Scotstoun yards, walked out at 12.01am today, with the strike lasting until 11.59pm.
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Efforts to avert a strike at ACAS on Monday collapsed after GMB said Wincanton failed to meet union demands for an equalisation of the hourly rate of pay across store operations. They stated that around three-quarters of Wincanton’s store operatives are currently paid £9.90 an hour while a dozen staff previously transferred from BAE Systems are paid £14.10 an hour.
Over 95 per cent of members previously voted to support strikes against the pay policy in a full statutory ballot.
GMB Scotland Organiser Dom Pritchard said: “The failure of Wincanton to value their workers equally and properly means production will be affected on the delivery of the frigate programme for the duration of this strike action – BAE Systems staff will not get the tools and PPE needed to do their jobs on Wednesday.
“Wincanton and BAE Systems have knowingly allowed this pay gap to fester between store operatives doing the same job despite the fact that both firms could easily afford to lift-up wages for everyone through the eye-watering revenues and profits they generate.
“Let’s be clear, the frigate programme is worth billions of pounds, and it is vital to our future security, but it is an affront to UK shipbuilding, and it should shame the MoD, that we have workers receiving less than £10 an hour on large-scale defence projects.
“Our members are struggling to stay above the breadline in the grip of this deepening cost-of-living crisis and their strike is a direct response to the threats of in-work poverty and inequality that Wincanton and indeed BAE Systems have left unchallenged.”
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